Blackmail at it's Best
by alosercanwin
Summary: What started out an accident turned to secret Hogsmeade trips and the begining of a relationship noone seemed to notice... except 1. With blackmail & the threat of Voldemort finding out, the 2 have a choice. Forget they ever happened, or fight to the end.
1. Halloween Night

_Hello Everybody! _

_I came up with this plot off the top of my head and was so excited to write it!_

_Just a quick and cute Dramione one shot. I hope you liked it and enjoy!_

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Her brown curls became tangled around the tip of her finger as she unintentionally ran a hand through her hair. Her elbow rested on the table, causing her head to fall into her hand. She bit her lower lip nonchalantly as her eyes scanned the words printed in black and white on the pages. Pressing down on the page she was on with her other hand, she kept the book steady and was able to read with excellent precision. She had kicked her black flats off, leaving them sitting below the chair, and lifted her legs up and onto the chair so she was sitting with them crossed under the table.

Her black stockings hugged her legs tightly as she sat like this, and her skirt fell into the gap between her legs, making it so she couldn't even see the color of the chair she was sitting on. She had tossed her cloak off upon arriving and had thrown it onto the back of her chair before sitting. Her gold and maroon striped tie hung loosely from her neck, causing her button up, white collared shirt to fall open slightly. And her dark grey sweater vest, the Gryffindor house crest on the top left side, hugged her curves perfectly as her body sat awkwardly in the chair.

She hummed a little tune as her eyes scanned the familiar pages of her favorite book in the Hogwarts library. She would constantly read the book, seeing the same words over and over again. But somehow, even though she was reading the same words, she would always pick up something different. It was like the book had its own magic, and hidden in-between the familiar words, would always be something different every time. Hogwarts, a History always had its secrets. And that was what she loved about the book.

As she flipped the pages of the book, she could hear the sound of laughter traveling through the corridors, and she knew that the last of the students must be coming back from the Halloween feast. She sighed and took a quick look around the library.

It was late, very late for her to be out. The library had closed hours ago, but that didn't stop Hermione. A quick spell and the door was open and she was able to walk inside. She gripped the lamp in her left hand, holding it up so she could see where she was going, and made her way down the dark isles of books. When she found the section she needed to be in, she placed the lamp down and quickly picked the book she wanted, then retreated to the far corner of the library. If anybody had just pocked their head into the library, they wouldn't have been able to see her. She was hidden behind hundreds of books.

And that was the thought that ran through her mind as she glanced over at the clock on the wall. It was close to eleven, but yet she was so well hidden. She could stay here for hours longer and nobody would ever find her. And it wasn't like she could just take the book with her back to her common room. Madam Pince would surly go looking through all the books in the morning and would notice one was missing. She would have a heart attack on the spot, and Hermione just couldn't do that to the librarian. Sure, she was out of bed after hours, but she was _reading_. It wasn't like she was out causing mayhem or torturing Filch, she was simply studying and catching up on her Hogwarts facts. Could they really punish her for educating herself.

Hermione smiled confidently as she had convinced herself to stay, and then engrossed herself back into her book.

She had, somewhere along the line, lost track of time. She hadn't noticed as the candle inside the lamp had started to slowly lose its light and she didn't notice how the moon had suddenly come into view, no longer hiding behind the castle towers. So, it would only make sense that she didn't hear the library doors open or the light footsteps that slowly started approaching her.

She flipped the page and licked her lips, continuing to read her book, completely oblivious to the fact that she was now being watched. And she only realized when the only other person occupying the room, had cleared their throat.

Her head shot up suddenly, and her brown eyes locked with silver.

She almost fell out of her seat at seeing him standing there. He was leaning against one of the bookcases, his arms crossed against her chest, and a smirk present on his face. Panicking, Hermione quickly threw her legs back to the floor and closed her book, watching Draco Malfoy closely, ready for anything.

She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. She wanted to say something, anything, to him but she was suddenly tongue tied.

She heard Draco let out a small laugh as he shook his head at her. "Never thought I would catch _you_ out of bed after hours." He said, his smirk growing more and more with every word. "Gone rebellious, have you Mudblood?"

Hermione scoffed and rolled her eyes. '_Typical Malfoy._' She thought as she turned her head away from him, opening up her book again, and continuing to read. "Honestly… it's none of your business. So why don't you just leave me be for once in my life."

"I would… but I'm not going to." He kicked himself up off the bookshelf and made his way over to the table. Hermione pretended to be reading, watching him in her peripheral vision. She watched as he approached the other side of the table, then took a seat in the chair that was sitting across from her. She bit her lip nervously and then took her chances and looked up at him, hoping he wasn't looking back at her.

She quickly shot her eyes back to the book. Draco Malfoy was staring directly at her; his famous smirked plastered on his face. "Can you stop staring at me?" Hermione snapped, still not looking up at him. And then, she thought of something. He was a bloody hypocrite! He accused her of being out of bed after hours, and he was doing the same thing. She suddenly shot her head up and glared at Draco. "And how dare you accuse me of being out of bed after hours when you're doing the same thing!"

Draco's smirk grew. "It's different."

"What's different?"

"You being out of bed and me being out of bed." He said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's not different at all. We're both students and we're both out of bed when we're not supposed to be. What could possibly be different?"

"You're Hermione Granger and I'm Draco Malfoy. That's the difference." Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco, urging him to continue. He exhaled a deep breath and unfolded his arms, leaning his elbows on the table. "You're Hermione Granger, Mudblood and biggest Gryffindork of them all. You're a little miss know it all, goody goody two shoes, who thrives on all the school rules. Seeing you out of bed after hours makes me wonder if hell froze over."

Hermione rolled her eyes and Draco smirked before continuing. "Me, on the other hand, have been out of my common room after hours on several occasions. Seeing me out is not weird in anyway."

Hermione shook her head at him in disbelief_. 'He's so full of himself.'_ She thought as she glared at him. "I'll have you know that Harry, Ron, and I have been out on several occasions after hours, and I would bet all my books that what we have done beats yours by a long shot."

Draco laughed. "What, like saving the wizarding world?" He paused and watched as Hermione opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. "Going to get the Sorcerer's Stone and opening up the Chamber of Secrets doesn't make you special or rebellious at all."

Hermione's mouth opened wide in shock. "Are you serious?" She asked. "If that doesn't make anybody rebellious then I don't know what does."

"If you want some credit for being rebellious, then all you're getting is helping Potter with the Sorcerer Stone. You didn't even go into the Chamber of Secrets. That was all Scarhead and Weasel."

"I helped!" Hermione yelled, now frustrated.

Draco just laughed. "You're going to wake up the school with your banshee shrieks."

"Well then if you're so great and rebellious, tell me what you have done that makes you so much better than me." Draco just continued to smirk at her. "Because I highly doubt coming to the library beats going to get the Sorcerer Stone, Malfoy." Hermione found herself snapping at him as she closed her book to glare at him.

"For you information, I didn't just _come_ to the library. I'm not like you. I don't skip out on all the Halloween fun and decide to break into the library and read instead." Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I was at a Halloween party in the Slytherin Common Room and was tired of Pansy hanging all over me in her drunken state. So…," Draco leaned back in his seat and reached into his robes, pulling out a bottle of fire whiskey. "I decided to come to a place where there would be peace and quiet and where I could drink in peace."

Hermione paused and just stared at him. "So you came to the library…?"

Draco exhaled a deep breath and looked at his bottle of whiskey. "I thought nobody would be here." He said, smirking at her. "You could leave." He pointed out, reaching for the drink on the table and twisting the cap off.

"Or you could find another place to go since I was here first. And besides… I don't want to get caught here with you, especially since you have _that_ on your person." Hermione pointed to his whiskey as he brought it up to his lips and took a swig.

Draco brought the bottle back down and just smirked at Hermione before speaking. "What's wrong with this?" He asked, holding the bottle up. "Haven't you and any of your Gryffindork friends ever had fire whiskey?"

Hermione paused before speaking. "Well… I haven't." Draco just looked back at Hermione like this bit of information didn't surprise him at all. She opened her mouth again to say that Gryffindor didn't really have any parties like that in their common room, but decided against it. It would only give Malfoy something to make fun of them even more for.

Instead, she licked her lips and watched as Draco brought the bottle up to his lips and then placed it back on the table. He smacked his lips together and then sighed before sliding the bottle across the table so it landed directly in front of Hermione's book. "Go on." He said, nodding towards his fire whiskey. "Take a swig, Granger."

Hermione looked at him, complete shock and disbelief written all over her face."I'm not drinking that." She said as she stared at the fire whiskey like it was from another planet.

Draco just laughed at her. "Come on Granger." He said. "It's just a drink."

"No, absolutely not. It goes beyond all school rules, and besides… you're not even allowed to have that. You're sixteen and underage, and so am I."

Draco ran a hand through his hair before reaching over the table and grabbing his drink. "You know Mudblood…," He paused, taking a sip and then bringing it back down to the table. "I thought for once you were going to be rebellious." He looked at Hermione for a good minute, almost like he expected her to suddenly reach over and grab the bottle. And Hermione had wanted to. The second the word had left his lips, she had wanted to snatch the bottle from his hands and drink it just to spite him. She wanted nothing more than to prove to Draco Malfoy that she was so much more then he made her out to be.

Just as she was about to get the courage to reach over and grab the bottle from him, he sighed and shook his head. "Obviously, I was right about you. There isn't a drop of rebel blood in your whole body." He glanced at her for one more second before standing up and starting to walk away. Hermione slowly felt her chance slipping away, and for some reason, she didn't want to see this one go. Just as Malfoy was about to turn and corner and disappear for good, Hermione called his name. He stopped suddenly and turned around, looking at Hermione with a raised eyebrow. "Yes Granger?" He asked, bringing the bottle up to his lips again and taking a swig.

Hermione licked her lips before standing up from her chair and slowly approaching Malfoy. She suddenly felt brave and like a new, rebellious Hermione was suddenly being born. Her feet were carrying themselves, the words she spoke felt like they came from a completely different person, her facial expressions were faces she never made before, and she had a glazed and determined look in eyes.

Obviously Malfoy had noticed the sudden change in her as well, because he was now staring at her like he had never seen her before in his life. Or maybe it was the fact that she was slowly approaching him and he could make out how determined she looked to just prove him wrong.

When she was a few feet from him, she placed a very Malfoy-ish smirk on her face and finally spoke. "Do you really want me to be rebellious, Malfoy?" Draco stared back at Hermione, his mouth open slightly as he looked down at her, not sure what to say or do.

Hermione was now only a couple feet from him, and if she wanted to, she could easily reach out and touch Draco. She smirked at him, and while still keeping eye contact, reached down and pulled the fire whiskey from his hand. As they both continued to stare at each other, Hermione slowly brought the fire whiskey up to her lips and tilted the bottle back, allowing the liquid to burn her throat as it ran down.

Draco watched her lips the entire time, studying them carefully as they wrapped themselves around the glass top and how she licked them after she brought the bottle back down again. Her lips formed a smirk again as she realized what he was looking at and then an idea suddenly struck her. It would wipe that smirk off his face every time he looked at her and make him completely speechless. Was she really able to let an opportunity like that just disappear?

She bit her lower lip and then took another step towards Malfoy. Their bodies were almost touching and she could feel Draco tensing up, something he normally didn't do. Hermione let out a little laugh as she lowered her eyes towards Draco's chest. She brought her free hand up and placed it on the center of his chest slowly, suddenly gripping his tie and staring at the green and silver stripes. "Was that rebellious enough for you, Malfoy?" She asked slowly, now looking back up into Draco's eyes.

Draco opened his mouth to speak, but found himself speechless. "Because… I have another way to prove it to you." She slowly licked her lips before dropping the bottle of fire whiskey to the ground. It hit the wood floor with a crash, all the remaining whiskey going to waste as it soaked into the floor boards. Hermione brought her now free hand, up to where her other hand was. With both of her hands gripping his tie, she slowly stood on her toes and pulled him towards her.

She closed her eyes and slowly brushed her lips onto Draco's. They kissed for a few seconds before Hermione brought her lips away from Draco's and lowered herself back to her normal height. She looked up at a dumbstruck Draco and smirked at him one final time before releasing his tie and then slowly turning her back and retreating back towards the table.

It was obvious that she had proved herself to him.

Hermione reached her table and picked her book up. She had every intention of grabbing the book and turning and walking from the library without even sparing Draco a glance. But as she grabbed the book and turned to go back in the direction she had come from, she suddenly found herself face to face with the blonde. He was standing a foot away from her and was looking deep into her eyes.

She opened her mouth to tell him to move, but just as her lips parted, his made contact with hers. They pushed against hers with a want that Hermione had never felt before, and she found herself kissing him back with the same amount of force. His hands found the side of her face and he clamped them there as he kissed her and Hermione found herself running her hands through his blonde hair.

They only stopped when they needed air, and yet still panting heavily, they continued. Draco found himself making his way from his lips to her neck, kissing it fiercely as his hands made their way down to her hips. Hermione tilted her head back as Draco attacked her neck, still running her hands through his hair.

Her heart beat quickly as she brought her hands down to the sides of Draco's face, pulling him back up and kissing him hard on the lips again. As they kissed, Draco lifted Hermione up off the floor and set her on the table that was pushing into her back. Hermione spread her legs apart and gripped Draco's tie, pulling him so he was now standing in-between her thighs. Bringing his hands from her hips to her thighs, his hands made the way up her skirt and he gripped the sides of her stockings and slowly started pulling them off her legs.

As he removed her stocking, Hermione quickly undid his tie, pulling it off his neck and tossing it to the ground. They continued to undress each other in-between fierce kisses. When Hermione was down to nothing but her bra, skirt, and knickers and Draco only had his pants on, did they finally stop for a few seconds to catch their breath. Draco laughed slightly as he kissed the top of Hermione's chest. "Never thought I would see this much of a rebel in you Granger."

"Oh, shut up." Hermione said, pulling his head back up and kissing him. He allowed her to kiss him as he cupped her breast.

When they pulled away from the kiss for air, Draco spoke again. "I'm serious. I'm about to shag the biggest Gryffindork of them all on a table in the library on Halloween night, a couple minutes from midnight."

"Think again, Mr. Malfoy."

Hermione and Draco both froze, slowly turning their heads in the direction that the voice had come from. Hermione's eyes opened wide at the two sets of eyes that stared at her, and she found herself biting her lip nervously and looking down at the ground. Draco quickly brought his hands from Hermione's breast and stepped away from Hermione like she had burned him. But Hermione didn't blame him. She would have done the same thing if McGonagall and Snape had just found them half naked and all over each other.

"We just happened to be patrolling the halls outside the library when we heard a crash and decided to come and investigate." McGonagall said, staring at her students with shock. "Good thing we did to."

Draco glanced over at Hermione to see that she was staring at the ground, her lips a tight line as she bit them together. Draco, who couldn't make eye contact with McGonagall, stared at his head of house instead. Snape was looking at the ground, staring at the broken glass that was shattered all over the floor. He quickly pointed his wand at the broken fire whiskey bottle and it easily fixed itself, and then flew up into his hand. He read the contents and then sighed, holding it out for McGonagall to see. "I believe this would explain their unusual behavior." Snape said, now looking at Draco.

McGonagall shook her head before taking the bottle from Snape. "I am very disappointed in the both of you." She said fiercely. If looks could kill, Hermione and Draco would already be dead. "Out of bed after hours doing…" She paused, pointing in the direction of the table that Hermione was sitting on. "And then we find you with this!"

"Professor we-." Hermione had spoken her first words, and they were shaken and scared.

"I don't want to hear anything from you Ms. Granger." McGonagall snapped, causing Hermione to hang her head lower and return to biting her lips. "I would have expected better behavior from you."

"Perhaps we should take them to see Dumbledore." Snape suggested. "Matters this extreme will need to be dealt with from a higher authority."

"I agree." McGonagall said nodding her head. "The two of you will get changed immediately and then meet me and Professor Snape outside the library. Be quick about it, because the longer you take the longer you punishment will be in the end." McGonagall shook her head one more time before turning from the room, muttering something to herself along the lines of: 'Never in all my years at Hogwarts….'

Snape glared at his students for a few seconds longer, then followed McGonagall outside. Hermione quickly jumped from the table, her face beat red from embarrassment, and grabbed her pile of clothes from the floor. Draco grabbed his shirt as well, putting it on and then slowly starting to button it up, all the while watching Hermione.

She seemed to be struggling with buttoning her shirt as her hands were shaking so bad, and Draco suddenly felt the need to apologize. It was, in a way, all his fault. He had practically tricked her into acting that way, but then again, she was the one who had dropped the bottle that caused McGonagall and Snape to hear them in the first place.

He sighed before speaking. "Granger-"

"Just shut up, Malfoy." Hermione said quietly as she finished dressing herself and grabbed her cloak off the back of her chair and putting it on. Draco sighed, finished dressing himself, and then followed Hermione as she led the way out of the library.

The walk up the headmaster's office felt like they were walking towards their death. The halls seemed to be quieter than usual and all they could hear was the tapping of McGonagall's feet as they walked quickly down the stone paths.

Reaching a stone gargoyle, they watched as McGonagall said the password and the gargoyle leaped to the side, revealing a spiral staircase. They climbed up the stairs one at a time until they reached a door, where Snape knocked several times. Within a couple seconds, a smiling Dumbledore appeared at the door, ushering them inside.

Draco and Hermione were ordered to stand at the back of the room, silently, as McGonagall and Snape explained what they had seem and found. Draco watched Hermione the entire time. It was obvious what was running through her head. She had never, in her life, been caught doing something that was so against the rules or so embarrassing, and it was obvious that it was killing her on the inside.

She continued looking at the ground, already mentally excepting what punishment would come her way, and she only looked up when Dumbledore called their names. Hermione and Draco slowly approached his desk, watching as McGonagall and Snape left the room together, satisfied looks on their faces. Dumbledore smiled at them and then pointed towards the two seats that sat opposite his desk. "Quite a night, isn't it?" Dumbledore asked when they were seated.

"Sir, we can explain everything." Hermione said franticly.

Dumbledore, however, put his hand up to silence Hermione. "Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall already explained everything to me, Ms. Granger."

"But-"

Dumbledore put his hand up again to silence her, a smile still plastered on his face. "What the two of you were caught doing and what you were caught with goes against tons of school rules." Dumbledore paused, studying Hermione and Draco's reactions to this. Draco just stared back at Dumbledore, but he could have sworn he heard Hermione squeal to herself just at the thought of her punishment. "Your heads of houses have asked me to suspend you and remove as many points that I would consider enough to punish you." His face was suddenly serious as he studied Hermione and Draco carefully.

"But sir we-" Draco stared, finally finding his voice only for Dumbledore to interrupt him.

"Made a big mistake, Mr. Malfoy I understand that. As for your head of houses, I only agree with them on one of their ideas for punishment." Hermione finally looked up at Dumbledore, her eyes twinkling with a small bit of hope. "What the two of you did tonight in the library would most likely stay a secret. But seeing as this is Hogwarts, nothing stays a secret, so before long the whole school will know." As Dumbledore said it, the realization seemed to hit Hermione and Draco and they realized for the first time that they would never be able to be seen together in public without everybody remembering what they had done.

"The embarrassment should be enough punishment for the two of you, but unfortunately, I agree with what your head of houses have said. You will each loose 100 points from your house and I'm afraid you will also lose all Hogsmeade visits for the rest of the year."

"You can't-!" Draco stared to argue, but Dumbledore quickly interrupted him again.

"Can't what?" He asked with a small smile. "I can't cut you a break? Would you rather me suspend the two of you instead of taking away your Hogsmeade visits?"

"No!" Hermione said quickly, causing Dumbledore's smile to grow more.

"Very well then." Dumbledore then stood up from his seat. "I am letting the two of you off easy, and you should be thankful for that. Now, quickly go back to your dorms and get a good night's sleep before class tomorrow. I think you're going to need it." Dumbledore nodded towards the door and Draco and Hermione quickly stood up and exited the room before he could change his mind.

They walked the halls together in silence until they came to the moving staircases where Draco would descend towards the dungeon and Hermione would ascend to the seventh floor. Hermione turned quickly without sparing Draco a look, wanting to just put this night behind her and fall asleep. Draco however, stopped and watched Hermione as she stared walking up the stairs, when a sudden idea struck him. "Hey Granger." He called, watching as she turned to look at him.

"What Malfoy?" She asked.

"So… there's a Hogsmeade visit next weekend."

"…And?"

"What do you say we go together?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Draco, looking at him like he was stupid. "Are you deaf? Didn't you hear what Dumbledore said? We lost all our Hogsmeade visits for the year."

"I know."

"So then how in the bloody hell are we going to go to Hogsmeade?"

Draco just laughed. "There's more than one way into Hogsmeade, Granger." Draco pointed out, smirking at Hermione.

"You want to sneak into Hogsmeade? Malfoy that's so-"

"Rebellious." Draco cut her off, his smirk growing on his face.

"You're crazy." Hermione said, turning and starting to walk back up the stairs.

Draco, however, found himself repeating the same words from earlier. "I thought for once you were going to be rebellious. Obviously, I was right about you. There isn't a drop of rebel blood in your whole body."

Hermione stopped walking and turned around to slowly face Draco. She had a small smile on her face, letting Draco know that she had recognized the words from earlier. She let out a little laugh and then nodded. "Hogsmeade next weekend sounds like a great idea."

Draco just laughed and watched as Hermione turned and walked back up the stairs towards her common room. He shook his head and then started to descend towards the dungeons, but not before muttering to himself that it didn't sound like a great idea…, but rather a very rebellious idea.

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_Thanks for reading! _

_Let me know what you thought please!_


	2. A Trip to Hogsmeade

_Hello once again!_

_Now, I know that when I put up the first chapter to this story, I said it was going to be a oneshot. At the time, that was my intention. However, almost everybody who reviewed asked for me to continue and write at least one more chapter, so I did. As of right now, I have no intention of making this any longer then it already is, but I also had no intention of making this any more then a oneshot, so you never know. If I get a bunch of people who would like this to become more then a twoshot, then i'll see what I can come up with for this story._

_But for now, enjoy the second part of this now twoshot and remember to review and let me know what you thought :)_

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Word had traveled quickly throughout Hogwarts, just like Dumbledore had predicted it would. But Draco and Hermione weren't stupid; they knew it would as well. They had both eventually got the lecture from their friends, Hermione worse than Draco, and they both accepted it without any argument.

Ron had been more furious then Harry, but Hermione already expected that. She knew how Ron had acted after she went to the Yule ball with Viktor, and his reaction to this wasn't any different, except the part where it was Malfoy instead of Viktor. It was even more obvious now that Ron was jealous, especially since Hermione knew that he had feelings for her, and the glares Ron sent Draco's way became more and more intense as the week progressed. Not to mention that whenever Draco was mentioned in a conversation, even if it wasn't their conversation, Ron's next words were an insult followed by a curse of some sort. If Ron hated Draco before this, he now despised him.

Harry, although he was furious as well, was strangely more understanding then Ron. He liked to blame Draco, saying that Hermione had to have been pressured in order to even kiss him and that the whiskey he had Hermione drink was probably spiked with some potion. Hermione couldn't help but smile at Harry, not only because she knew that the whiskey wasn't in fact spiked, but because Harry cared about her and hated Malfoy so much that he just straight up refused to believe that Hermione was about to shag Draco in the library. Hermione didn't argue with Harry, even though it was wrong, because she needed his support, especially since he was the only one who would give it to her.

Draco, on the other hand, didn't have any trouble getting his friends support in this. He simply said he was trashed when he 'stumbled' into the library and happened to come face to face with Granger. Crabbe and Goyle got a good laugh about this, but some of Draco's other friends weren't so thick. Pansy straight up refused to talk to him, not wanting to believe that he would even kiss a muggleborn, and Blaise continued to look at him strangely, like he didn't believe Draco one bit. Draco could really care less about Pansy seeing as she was always annoying him anyway, and him and Blaise weren't even that close. All that mattered was that everybody else knew he was trashed and a male who was simply turned on by the opposite sex in his drunken state.

However, Draco couldn't help but admit to himself that although he was drunk, he still had complete control over the situation. What happened between him and Granger wasn't planned, but he wasn't exactly completely grossed out by the idea. Draco liked to blame it on his testosterone, saying that the unexpected kiss Hermione gave him had caught him off guard and turned him on so much that he couldn't help but to kiss her back. That, however, wasn't really the truth, and Draco had to stop trying to tell himself that. Granger was hot in her own weird bossy, bookworm kind of way, and everything she did that night didn't help him to put this thought out of his mind for good.

The way she had stood up from her chair and approached him, her hips swinging at her side as her shirt stuck out from her skirt, and a seductive smile on her face was what made him tense up and completely drop his defense. When she grabbed the bottle and brought it up to her lips, swallowing the liquid, Draco couldn't help but become mesmerized by the way her lips wrapped around the top of the bottle, forcing him to imagine his lips coming in contact with hers. The contact between them when she placed her hands on his chest sent a tinkling feeling to the tips of his toes and fingers, and he was suddenly filled with want. The kiss, although short and simple, was magical. Draco found himself wanting more, which is why he acted the way he acted, not because of the alcohol in his system.

Hermione, like Harry, liked to blame the firewhiskey in her system. But she knew that was unfair. She had only taken a sip, not enough to make her strong mind not know what it truly wanted anymore. So that led Hermione to believe that there was that possibility that deep down, somewhere in the crevasses of her body, she wanted Draco. As she thought about it, she had to admit that if you took away the rude and cruel comments he threw at her at a daily basis, the smirk that crossed his lips when he tormented those that were weaker to him, and the sneer that was constantly on his face, Draco Malfoy was extremely attractive. She found herself blushing just at the thought of that night and wondered if it really would have happened if Draco wasn't so drunk. But as she thought about it, she couldn't help but realize that although Draco had firewhiskey on him, he didn't seem all that drunk. The thought of him knowingly kissing her and almost shagging her made her turn even more red and she wondered if he would even remember his invitation he passed to Hermione that night to attend Hogsmeade next weekend.

But that promise of the Hogsmeade trip next weekend was what hung in their minds more than anything after that night. It was strange, Hermione and Draco both admitted it to themselves, but they couldn't help it. The small glances they stole of each other as they passed in the hallways or during classes they had together was just proof to themselves that, even if they didn't want to admit it, there was a spark of some sort between them. And secretly, they both liked it.

The idea had crossed Draco's mind the day after their night in the library that he could simply forget about his plan for him and Hermione to sneak out and attend Hogsmeade anyway. He could owl her and tell her he didn't know what he was thinking due to the alcohol and that it was practically social suicide. Not to mention they would get a row from McGonagall and Snape again. Hermione probably expected an owl anyway, thinking he wouldn't want to go, so Draco made up his mind to owl her. But just as he was on his way to the owlery to borrow a school owl, letter in hand, he spotted her and froze in his spot.

She was walking across the grounds towards the forbidden forest, heading straight for Hagrid's hug. As she walked, Draco studied her. Her hair was tamed, pulled back in a loose ponytail with a few strands falling into her face. Her long legs seemed leaner, longer yet skinnier, and her small hands pressed her books against her chest. Draco's heart skipped a beat at the thought of her hands on his chest again, and as he watched her disappear into the half giants house he wondered if she was always so pretty and he just never realized it before.

Sighing, he glanced down at the letter and then quickly tore it up, turning it to ashes with a flick of his wand. Reaching into his messenger bag that was hanging over his shoulder, he pulled out a small piece of parchment and a quill, quickly scribbling a note to Hermione telling her to meet him in the library directly after everybody else left for Hogsmeade. Positioning himself behind one of Hagrid's giant pumpkins, he quickly casted a hovering charm on the note so it floated right in front of Hagrid's door. Within a few minutes, Hermione came walking out of the door and ran directly into the note, sending it falling to the ground. With a curious look on her face, she bent down and picked the letter up from the ground, then opened it up. It only took a couple seconds for a smile to appear on her face.

Draco grinned when he saw Hermione fold the letter back up, place it inside one of her books, and then glance around, obviously looking for him. When she couldn't locate him, she spoke under her breath, "Okay Malfoy, see you Saturday." Draco watched her walk away until she was out of sight before getting himself together and heading for the castle himself.

The rest of the week went by at a normal pace. People who weren't close to Hermione or Draco were starting to forget about the rumors going around. Ron was still refusing to talk to Hermione until she apologized to him, but she didn't know what to even apologize for. They weren't dating, and Ron's immaturity was really a turn off. Harry, on the other hand, was in the middle. Although Hermione knew that Harry loved her like a sister and they were still best friends, he picked Ron over her when it came down to it. It upset her to a certain extent, but she understood in a weird way. They were both boys and best friends before she was even in the picture. Even if it upset her, she wasn't going to argue. Nobody else was really talking to her, all she had was Harry.

Draco had almost the same situation. Crabbe and Goyle were too thick to even remember what happened in the first place, and Pansy was still refusing to talk to Draco. Draco saw this as an added bonus to his situation. A non-existing Pansy was the best kind of Pansy. He did, however, have to watch out for Blaise Zabini. They didn't really get along unless the situation called for it, and Draco felt like he was out to destroy him. Draco had seen Blaise more times in this week so far then he had all year, and it scared Draco. Blaise wasn't an idiot. Like his mother, he was smart and knew exactly how to get what he wanted. If he wanted to see Draco go down in flames, he could make it happen. And revealing that he was in a sort of 'friendship' with Granger was something that could make Draco burn.

Draco blew it off though. He felt a sort of invisible force pulling him towards Hermione and he knew he could sneak around with her without Blaise finding out. He wasn't a Slytherin for nothing.

Hermione, on the other hand, wasn't worried at all about getting caught. Like always, she had a plan.

She waited for all the Gryffindors to clear out of the Gryffindor common room Saturday afternoon before grabbing her wand and sprinting up the stairs towards the boys dormitory, hoping nobody spotted her. Checking over her shoulder, she pushed open the fifth year door slightly and pocked her head inside to make sure nobody was inside.

Smiling to herself when she noticed the room was empty, she walked inside and headed straight for Harry's side of the room, going straight for his trunk. Lifting up the top, she cautiously moved around his items inside of his trunk before she found what she was looking for. Her smile turned in a smirk as she pulled the invisibility cloak out from the trunk, careful not to mess up any of belongings, then headed for the library.

The library was empty seeing as it was a Saturday and most of the students were in Hogsmeade anyway. With the cloak under her arm, she looked around for Draco. When she didn't spot him, she figured he must not have arrived yet. She waited a couple more minutes before a thought crossed her mind.

She made her way towards the back corner of the library where the 'incident' between her and Draco happened a few nights before, and spotted him straight away. He was sitting on top of the same table they had occupied Halloween night, one leg sitting on the floor as another sat a foot from the ground. His arms were crossed and his attention was on the room around him. His eyes traveled from the floor to the ceiling, then to the books from the window, before they finally traveled over to where Hermione was standing. Their eyes locked and a small grin spread across Draco's face. Hermione smiled back before approaching him.

"Hello." Hermione said as Draco stood up from the table. "This looks oddly familiar, doesn't it?" She asked, looking around.

Draco chuckled. "Strangely enough, I was just thinking the same thing." They both smiled at each other, an awkward silence coming between them when both their laughter died down. "So," Draco said with a sigh. "How are we going to do this?" He asked, looking around.

"You're the one who came up with this _brilliant_ idea, so you tell me. How are we getting out of this castle?"

"I know a way, but if we're not careful, we could be seen." Draco answered.

"Then I guess it's a good thing you're going with one of Harry Potter's best friends, isn't it?" Hermione smirked back, pulling the invisibility cloak out from under her arm and holding it out in front of Draco.

"What's that?" He asked, studying it in Hermione's hand. "It's just an old beat up cloak."

Hermione laughed. "Wrong." She quickly turned it inside out and then tossed it over her head, disappearing completely. Draco's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the place where Hermione was previously standing.

"Potter has an invisibility cloak!?" Draco practically yelled.

"Not so loud Malfoy." Hermione said through her teeth as she pulled the cloak off her head. "Madame Pince will hear you."

"Who cares about that old coot? We're in the clear." Draco said, going to grab the cloak out of Hermione's hand. Hermione, however, pulled the cloak out of his reach.

"Harry doesn't know I took his cloak." Hermione said, tucking it under her arm again. "So therefore I'm going to hold the cloak and we need to be back before anybody else so I can return it."

Draco rolled his eyes and scoffed. "So much for a rebel." He muttered under his breath.

Hermione pretended to not hear him. "We better get moving if we want to have any time in Hogsmeade." Unfolding the cloak, she held it above her head and ushered for Draco to come under. He ducked under her arm and with them both completely invisible, they headed for the nearest secret tunnel out of the school. Hermione led the way, following the directions that Draco gave her. The tunnel was cold and dark, and once the passageway they walked through closed back up, Hermione pulled the cloak off them. "No use hiding in the dark." She said.

Draco just nodded as Hermione pulled out her wand and lit the tip, Draco following suit. They walked forward into the tunnel for a couple minutes in an awkward silence before Draco finally spoke. "So… Granger… about what happened Halloween-"

"If you're going to apologize then stop talking Malfoy." Hermione said without looking at him. "We were both at fault that night and we both deserved the punishment we received."

"Yeah, but if I never kissed you we would have left before McGonagall and Snape ever saw us."

"And if I never dropped the bottle of Fire Whiskey, we wouldn't have even got caught."

"If I-"

"Seriously Malfoy…," Hermione turned to him and smiled slightly to let him know she wasn't trying to be rude. "We're both at fault. Let's just not talk about it and just enjoy this day."

Draco said nothing, and they continued on their way in silence. Within a few minutes, they came to a ladder that led up to a trap door. Draco, who didn't want to be the first one up the ladder, turned to Hermione. "Ladies first." He said pointing towards the trap door above them.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Always the gentleman, aren't you Malfoy?" Draco grinned and watched as Hermione stepped up the ladder and started to climb. A ray of light shined down into the tunnel as she pushed the trap door up. Sticking her head out slightly, Draco watched as she looked around the room above them before turning back to Draco. "I think it's Honeydukes." She whispered as she pulled the cloak out from under her arm and then pushed the trap door open all the way, climbing up and out of sight.

"Wait up, Granger." Draco snapped back in a whisper, quickly climbing up the stairs to catch up with Hermione. When he reached the top, he pocked his head out to see Hermione peering up the stairs that led up into the shop. Rolling his eyes at her cautiousness, Draco climbed all the way out from the trap door and closed it before walking over to Hermione. "What's the hold up?" Draco asked.

Hermione turned to glare at him. "We're not going to be able to get out of this shop without running into somebody." She turned back to looking up the stairs, murmuring under her breath. "This is the dumbest idea ever."

"It's not a dumb idea." Draco snapped back, snatching the cloak from her hands and getting ready to throw it over himself. "Come on, I'll lead." Hermione turned to look at Draco, took another quick look up the stairs, then, finally making up her mind, turned and dove under the cloak with Draco.

They walked up the stairs quickly and then got their first look at Honeydukes. Luckily for them, the store wasn't as crowded as it usually was considering it was a fairly nice day for November, but it was still bad enough to create a hassle. With Draco leading, however, they were able to make it out only bumping into one person who was so busy concentrating on the candy around him that he didn't even realize.

When they emerged into the streets, Draco turned to Hermione under the cloak and smirked at her. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"We're just lucky it's a nice day out."

"Yeah… and we're stuck under a cloak."

"Would you rather get caught?" Hermione snapped back, smiling slightly to herself when Draco only rolled his eyes. "Where to next?" She asked quickly changing the subject before they got into a loud argument and were discovered.

"Just follow me." Draco ordered as they started walking again. They were only walking for a few minutes before Draco pushed open the door to The Three Broomsticks and they quickly headed towards the back corner. Hermione watched as Draco looked around at the bar, a small smirk forming on his lips.

"What are you thinking Malfoy?" Hermione asked. "If you're thinking of stealing some-"

"You ask too many questions." Draco said, grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her towards the bar. They stood by the entrance to go behind the bar, and once Madame Rosmerta cleared the way, Draco rushed in and quickly ducked down a hallway that led to the storage room.

As they continued to walk down the hallway, the voices coming from the pub slowly starting to fade away, Draco pulled the cloak off of them, knowing that they were safe for now. "Malfoy… what in the hell are you doing?"

"What kind of Hogsmeade trip would this be without a little Butterbeer?" He said, peering into each room that they passed by. When he finally reached a barrel, he stopped and grinned down at it before quickly searching around him for a glass.

"We're not stealing Butterbeer, Malfoy." Hermione said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Draco turned to her and smirked, then reached into his cloak pocket and pulled out two galleons, placing them down on top of the barrel. Hermione rolled her eyes and scoffed. "This still doesn't feel right."

"Come on Granger." Draco whined as he started to walk down the hallway again, Hermione following after him quickly. "This is supposed to be a fun and rebellious trip."

Hermione sighed, turning her eyes and glancing into the rooms as they walked as well, hoping to help Draco find what he needed so they could get out of there as soon as possible. "Well, so far it hasn't been very fun." She said under her breath, hoping that Draco didn't hear her. Draco, however, did hear her, and had stopped walking immediately and turned to face the brunette. Hermione, who was looking into a room when Draco stopped, had continued to walk and it wasn't long before she was tripping right over Malfoy.

With his seeker skills, he grabbed for her and pulled her towards him before she could hit the ground. The two found themselves locked in an embrace similar to the one on Halloween. With her hands resting on Draco's chest, and one of his hands gripping Hermione's wrist while the other sat on her hip, they both stared up into each other's eyes. "You know," Draco started in a seductive whisper. "We could always make this fun, continue from where we started." He suggested.

Hermione stared back into Draco's silver eyes before a small smirk appeared on her face. "Your kiss started it last time."

Draco chuckled. "That it did." Without waiting for Hermione to respond, he brought his lips down to connect with hers for the first time since Halloween night, a night he had relived over and over again in his dreams. Just as Hermione was bringing her hands up to run them through Draco's hair, they heard a crash down at the end of the hallway and pulled apart. They stood there, both staring down the hallway to wait and see if anybody appeared when they suddenly heard voices. "Shit." Draco said under his breath, grabbing the invisibility cloak that fell on the floor and quickly throwing it over the both of them before a familiar face rounded the corner.

"Come on Minerva. You teach up at the school."

"I don't see your point." They heard McGonagall snap.

"We could easily meet at The Three Broomsticks for drinks anytime. What do you say?"

"No thank you." McGonagall snapped.

"You know, you're just playing hard to get." Hermione and Draco both had smiles appear on their faces as their hands flew up to their mouths to stop their laughs from traveling. A scruffy, tiny older man, who was obviously drunk, was following McGonagall quickly, a shot glass in his hand and a determined look in his eyes. "Minerva-"

"I can assure you that we are _not_ on first name basis Mr. Balloway." McGonagall quickly turned to face the man. "Now, goodbye."

"But… Minerva…." McGonagall disappeared into a nearby room, followed closely by the stranger as he continued to beg her. Hermione and Draco, however, didn't wait around to see what else would come from this strange occurrence. With tears in their eyes from holding back the laughter, they both sprinted out one of the backdoors to The Three Broomsticks. Now freely laughing, they both continued to sprint towards the woods that led out towards the Shrieking Shack until they came to an abandoned clearing where they pulled the cloak off of them and fell down, both still laughing.

With their backs on the ground, hearts beating from the adrenaline rush, and their lungs pleading for air, their laughter slowly started to slow down as they looked up into the clouds above them. Draco was the first to catch his breath and he turned to look at Hermione, a smile still on his face. "I never thought I would see the day when somebody asked McGonagall out for drinks."

Hermione, who had finally caught her breath, turned her head as well to smile at Draco. "Me either." She said as Draco sat up and placed his arms on his bent knees. "It kind of made this whole day worth it… didn't it?"

Draco nodded back, studying Hermione for a few seconds before turning and looking out at the woods. "She always interrupts us right when it's about to get good." Draco said under his breath, running his hand through his hair. "Ever real-."

He stopped short, turning back to look at Hermione, only to find her already sitting up next to him. They stared back into each other's eyes yet again before Hermione placed her hand on top of Draco's and smiled at him. "You know, I don't think McGonagall will find us out here."

Draco didn't need for it to be spelt out for him, and he didn't need to be told twice. Without a delay, he crashed his lips onto Hermione's, slowly pushing her back onto the ground as he moved to lay over top of her. They kissed for a couple minutes before Draco moved his hand up into Hermione's shirt, cupping her breast and getting a moan in response from Hermione. Draco smiled into the kiss, liking her reaction, and quickly bringing his hands up and unbuttoning her shirt.

As Draco removed her shirt, Hermione started working on his pants, quickly getting them off before moving to his shirt. She paused halfway down from unbuttoning his shirt to run her hands through Draco's hair as he placed kisses on her now open chest.

Pulling on his hair to lift his head up, she brought her lips down on his as Draco reached up her skirt and peeled her panties off her legs and onto the grass with her shirt. "This is another thing I thought I would never see." Draco said as Hermione playfully bit his neck.

"What's that?" She asked in-between breaths.

"You being so into shagging."

Hermione grinned at Draco as he removed his boxers and positioned himself above Hermione. "This is a new me, remember?" She asked as she placed another kiss on Draco's lips. "This is the rebellious me." They both smiled at each other before they did the one thing they had both secretly wanted to do with each other since Halloween night, and it was more than either of them could have imagined.

* * *

The walk back to Honeydukes was spent in laughter as the Gryffindor and Slytherin had suddenly developed a new sort of friendship, one they never thought could be possible to form. When they were finally back at the end of the tunnel, ready to go back into the castle, they gave each other one more small kiss before Hermione went to leave the tunnel first. Just as she was about to open the passageway door and walk into the halls of Hogwarts, Draco called her. "So, Granger, what does this make us? Friends?" Draco smirked. "Friends with benefits?"

Hermione laughed back and returned the same smirk that Draco was giving her. "Why don't we just call it… rebels with benefits?"

Draco laughed to himself, watching as Hermione left before he exited the tunnel himself. As he made his way back to his common room, he couldn't help the grin that was permanently etched on his face or the thought that were traveling though his head. _'Rebels indeed.'_

* * *

review please!

r


	3. Someone to Fuck Around with

_Hello everyone! It's been a really long time since I updated, but I promised you I would make this into a full length story, and here I am. Hopefully you'll enjoy where I'm taking this!_

* * *

THREE

The open hallways out by the courtyard were dark and cold. The December nights forced all the students to not even want to venture out. The majority of them stayed turkced away in their common rooms, sitting around a nice warm fire. The small amount of students that were left, and were brave enough to deal with the cold, would most likely turn around once they realized the quarter moon that shuld be filling the sky that nightw as covered by dark clouds, ready to let the first snow hit the ground.

So really, the fact that Hermione was outside her common room, bundled up in a hat, gloves, and a winter coat, seemed completely pointless to her. There wouldn't be any students out here, and if there was then she could really care less. Let the idiots freeze to death. Just because they were freezing didn't mean she had to be as well.

Her small body shook as she forced her way out into the courtyard, lighting her wand for extra light. She paused when she reached the center, crossing her arms over her chest to try and hold as much warmth as possible as she turned to see if anyone was around her.

"You look like you could use some more body warmth." Hermione turned so fast her hair whipped her in the face, her wand pointing towards the person who spoke.

When she realized who it was, she lowered her wand. "I wish you wouldn't do that. One of these days I'm _going_ to end up cursing you, Draco."

He smirked and took a step closer towards her. "Not on purpose, I hope."

Hermione smirked back. She might not have known Draco for that long in the sense of their 'friendship', but she had seen his smirk so many times, she now had it mastered herself. "I think by now you might deserve it."

Draco chuckled when he reached Hermione, wrapping his arms around her. Hermione sighed, resting her head on his chest. "I don't know what I would do without your sarcasm, Hermione."

Hermione smiled, looking up at Draco. "Who said it was sarcasm?"

He laughed slightly, giving her a small kiss on the lips. "It sure is cold out here." He said as he shivered. Almost as if the skies had been waiting for Draco to speak, the clouds finally let loose whatever snow they were holding and allowed it to fall to the ground.

Hermione and Draco both watched it fall and slowly hit the ground for a couple minutes before Hermione spoke. "The first snow is always the prettiest."

"Yeah." Draco agreed. "Maybe tomorrow we can have a snowball fight." It was only a joke, a cruel and mean joke towards the both of them. They both knew that wouldn't really happen. They had both successfully managed to convince the whole school that nothing between them existed and that Halloween night was just a huge mistake. If they had a snowball fight, laughing and having fun together, all their hard work would be for nothing.

No, what Hermione and Draco had was their best kept secret. And even though neither of them really liked keeping it, they had no choice. If people discovered them, they were as good as dead.

"Come on." Draco said, peeling himself from Hermione and taking her hand. "Let's go somewhere warm." Hermione sighed slightly as she followed him. She didn't both to ask where. She already knew. It was the place that could hold their secret. The only place in all of Hogwarts where they could spend time together and know they were safe.

.::.

"Draco." Hermione called softly. The Slytherin and Gryffindor were laying in a bed together in the room of requirement, both naked under the sheets. Draco was laying on his back, his arm nearest Hermione spread out across her pillow as his other rested behind his head. Hermione was propped up on her elbows, one hand running her finger tips over Draco's bare chest. "Draco." She called again when he didn't answer.

"Hmmm." He murmured, eyes still closed.

"What… what are we exactly?"

It took Draco a couple of seconds to process and begin to understand the meaning behind Hermione's question. When he still didn't understand completely, he opened his eyes and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that out in public we act as if we were enemies. But behind closed doors… well, I'm not really sure what were considered." She sighed. "Are we just friends with benefits or are we more then that?"

"We can be whatever you like." Draco said, closing his eyes again.

He heard Hermione pout and felt her hand that was running across his chest disappear as weight shifted on the bed. Draco opened his eyes and saw Hermione now sitting on the edge of the bed, a sheet wrapped around her bare chest. "That's not what I meant."

Draco sighed slightly before sitting up as well and placing a hand on her back. "Hermione… you know I don't have an answer to that."

"I need to know Draco." Hermione demanded as she turned to face him.

"Why?"

"Because I need to know if I'm making a mistake. If we keep acting like this I can't promise I won't get feelings for you, Draco."

"Hermione-."

"I need to know if whatever we have is even going to last, because if this is nothing more than a small fling and we get discovered…-." Hermione licked her lips nervously. "It's not worth it, Draco. I'm sorry."

"Hermione… nobody's going to discover us."

"You don't know that."

Draco sighed, looking at Hermione sadly before sitting up and scooting closer to her. "You're not going to get hurt." He ran a hand along her cheek and smiled at her.

"Draco…."

"We have sex." He said suddenly. "I can't tell you what we are because, truthfully, I don't know myself. But I can tell you what we do, and that's sex. We meet up and wrestle under the sheets throughout the night and go back to hating each other in the daytime." Hermione stared back at him with her big brown eyes. "I know that sounds mean and harsh, but it's the truth. It's also amazing and something I don't want to end, believe it or not." Draco chuckled slightly.

"I'm scared." Hermione admitted quietly. "We've been going at this for months. It's only a matter of time."

"We'll be safe." Draco sounded confident, but in reality, he was only saying it to make her feel better. "Nobody has a clue about our real friendship."

"And if somebody does find out?"

"Then I'll protect you with everything I have." Draco answered instantly. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you Hermione." She smiled at him then, and Draco leaned in to place a sweet, chaste kiss on her lips before she rested her head on his chest. The two fell onto the bed and were soon asleep. Hermione was in her protectors arms, listening to his heart beat in her sleep while Draco held the girl he could honestly say he cared for, his thoughts on whether he could was confident that he could actually protect her if that time ever did come.

.::.

Draco pushed open the door to his dormitory slowly to avoid the normal squeaking sound it normally made. He sighed in relief when it didn't make any noise and slowly made his way to his bed. He glanced outside the window as he passed it. The sun was starting to rise, still not pushing over the horizon and filling the room with just barely enough light for Draco to see. As he reached his bed and was about to pull the covers off so he could climb in, he wondered if Hermione had reached her bed without waking anyone up every night.

He shook his head to get the thought out of it. Hermione was fine, probably more so then him. She had had plenty of practice sneaking around with Potter and Weasley for years before now, and they had been sneaking out to each other for months. Nothing changed.

Draco climbed into his bed and looked at the clock. He had about an hour until everyone would be waking up. Smiling slightly, Draco went to pull the covers over him and lay down when he realized Blaise Zabini, laying in his four poster, staring at him from across the room. "Blaise." Draco said, caught off guard. "Why are you awake?"

"I should be asking you the same thing." Blaise said, a small smirk on his face. "Where have you been sneaking off to for the past few weeks, Draco?"

"Sneaking?" Draco asked, trying to stay as calm as possible. It wouldn't be good to lose his cool in front of Zabini. He would notice. "I haven't been going anywhere Zabini. Don't be mental."

Blaise chuckled. "You disappear for hours on end. I'm not as dumb as the others mate. I know you're off doing something."

"Don't call me mate, Zabini." Draco suddenly snapped as he laid down in the bed and covered himself. "Despite what everyone believe, were not friends."

Blaise chuckled again, this time without a smile. "Noted Malfoy." When Draco said nothing in response, Blaise laid back down in his bed. "I'd watch what you say to people." Blaise said loud enough for Draco to hear. "You never know what they're capable of."

Draco ignored him, his eyes focused out the window and onto the newly snow covered trees. He would lay like that for another hour, his mind racing with the knowledge that Blaise knew something. He would have to tell Hermione, and right away.

.::.

"Move it Granger." Hermione let out a small cry of pain as Draco shoved past her in the hallway as he headed in the opposite direction.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked next to Hermione as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Hermione sighed as she turned and watched Draco turn the corner of the hallway. "Because, you know, I would have no problem with-."

"It's fine Harry." Hermione interrupted, forcing a smile at her best friend before continuing down the hallway towards their next class. "He's… he's not worth it."

She had been telling Harry and Ron that Draco wasn't worth the trouble for months now, and she was starting to wonder if she should start taking her own advice.

It had been the plan from the beginning. They would pretend to hate each other out in the open, act like nothing had changed, but when they were behind closed doors, they were as close as ever. It was too dangerous for anybody to know otherwise. Sure, if her side found out, it wouldn't be all that bad in the end. She liked to think they would even except Draco if she gave them her word. But if Draco's side found out… well, she didn't even like to think about that. Surely, they would both be killed. She was already as good as dead to them anyway, but Draco was supposed to be one of them. He was supposed to be out killing muggles and muggleborns, not sleeping around with them.

Hermione couldn't lie. She had enjoyed Draco's company more then she ever thought possible, and if she had a choice, she would never want it to stop. But lately she started to wonder if it was really worth all of it. Was Draco really worth risking her life? Was lying to all her friends about a secret relationship with a person they hated really worth possibly losing them forever? Was sex with Draco really worth it?

"Hermione, are you sure you're okay?" Hermione turned to see Harry staring at her curiously.

"I'm fine Harry." Hermione said, forcing a smile.

Harry suddenly grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her to the side of the hallway, avoiding the crowd of other students making their way towards their class. "I'm not just talking about right now. I mean in general."

"Harry… I'm fine."

He sighed in a quick defeat. Harry may have been tough, but he was never one to be tough with the ones he loved. "Well you know me and Ron are here if you need us."

Hermione couldn't help but smile. She knew it. Harry didn't have to say it for her to know that it was true. "Of course I do Harry." She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him one more smile. "I have to go to class. Enjoy your free period."

She didn't wait for Harry's response. She forced her way into the crowded hallway and towards the direction of her next class. The only thing was, she didn't have a class this period, and if Harry and Ron were smart enough, they would have been able to figure that out as well. Hermione had the same exact classes that her two best friends had all semester, the only difference was, she was spending her free period in an empty classroom on the third floor rather then with them.

And although she knew that her two best friends were smart to a certain extent, she was happy that they weren't smart enough to figure out her schedule yet. Because she knew that they wouldn't approve of who she was spending her free time with.

.: :.

With a quick look to the right, then one to the left to make sure nobody was around him, he pulled out his wand and aimed it at the doorknob. "Alohamora." He whispered under his breath. He heard the lock click and quickly made his way inside, locking the door firmly behind him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to face the room, smiling slightly when he saw the person he had been waiting to see all day.

"Hermione." He said under his breath as he approached her.

"Hello Draco." Hermione was sitting on top of one of the empty desk in the room, and looked up at him for a split second, but then continued to stare at the ground.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked quietly when he reached her, standing in front of her and placing his hands on her arms. Hermione just shook her head, but Draco wasn't going to stand for her not talking to him. Sometimes he wondered if blood status never existed, would him and Hermione have been friends a long time ago. They were both stubborn, smart, and didn't like to take no for an answer. Personality wise, they had a lot in common. "Don't do this Hermione. I'm not Potter or Weasley. I'm not going to just drop something that is obviously bothering you."

She looked up at him at this. "Is this more then just sex to you, Draco?"

"What?"

"Because if not, then I'm out. This is becoming too risky for me, Draco, and I'm sorry."

"Were you asleep last night during our conversation?" Draco could feel an argument coming on, and as much as he didn't want to start one, he had a feeling this one was unavoidable. Hell, this was what they did. They fought, made out, and had sex. That was their friendship. He loved it, and deep down, he knew that she did as well. "Did you not hear what I said to you?"

"I'm not going to argue with you today Draco." Hermione pushed Draco away from her and stood up from the table. "This whole… thing… whatever the hell it is, that we have going on here is becoming too much for me, mentally and physically."

"So this is about us then again, is it?" Draco snapped.

"It's always been about us!" Hermione yelled back. "It's been about us since Halloween! Maybe we should start thinking about the other people were going to hurt because of this!"

Draco laughed, he couldn't help it. "Do you think The Dark Lord is going to go after Potter or Weasley because he knows what _we're_ doing? Hell, he's already going after Potter, and once he finds out how close Weasley really is to him, if he doesn't already, he'll be after him as well." Hermione stared back at Draco. "I'm not worried about them or anybody else. I'm just worried about you, Hermione."

"I don't think you need to anymore, Draco."

"You don't think." Draco repeated. "See, you're not even confident." Draco took a step closer to her. "You don't want to stop this anymore then I do." Draco said under his breath.

"Of course I don't." Hermione said, looking down at the ground again as Draco stepped in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "But the hiding and the pretending is killing me, Draco." A small tear fell down her cheek. "I don't know how much longer I can take your bullying out in the halls anymore. It makes me feel like nothing changed."

Draco closed his eyes suddenly as he wrapped his arms around Hermione and brought her into his chest. "Is this about earlier, when I shoved you?" He could feel her nod against his chest, her small hands wrapping up and around his shoulders. "Oh, Hermione, I'm so sorry." He kissed the top of her head gently. "Blaise was right there, and he's such an asshole. And, well… you know, I have a reputation to uphold."

"I know." Hermione said into his chest. "I just wish you were like this from the beginning."

Draco chuckled slightly. "Me too." The bell for class suddenly rang and both Draco and Hermione sighed as they looked at each other. "I'm sorry."

"No, I shouldn't have brought it up. It was stupid and-."

Draco kissed her quickly on the lips. "No, it wasn't. I don't care who's around. I'm not physically hurting you. We may still have to continue on with the faking it, but I don't have to be so rough about it." Hermione smiled and Draco kissed her again. "Tonight in the room of requirement? Midnight?"

"Of course."

.::.

Draco groaned as the sun shined through the blinds of his four poster bed and straight into his eyes. He pulled his covers up closed to him and turned over, putting the sun to his back. He wondered what time it was and if he was running late for class. He then wondered if his alarm had even gone off yet and he had woken on his own accord. He sure hoped not. If he had woken on his own accord, he would be extremely displeased with himself. He had made it up to his bed and around three in the morning and would surely regret waking up earlier than expected later on in the day. He'd rather just be late.

But seeing as today was a Wednesday, Double Potions with the Gryffindors, he would be scolded by Hermione later that night about his tardiness. Her eyelids would close slightly as she glared at him, her nose scrunching up in disappointment, her bottom lip over lapping her upper lip as she listened to his excuses, and her arms crossed against her chest as she yelled at him once he finished talking, telling him that his excuses weren't good enough and he needed to shape up. And the whole time Draco would just smile at her, no matter how many times she told him not to.

Even now, he was smiling as he thought about it. He wondered when he began to understand Hermione and be able to deal with her rants, no matter how big they were. He guessed it was when they had started meeting every night in secret, when their small need to be touching each other constantly turned into a complicated, lust, and sex filled friendship. He guessed it was when he had really started to care for her.

If he had known now on that Halloween night in the library, he probably wouldn't have challenged Hermione. Draco wasn't one to be in close contact with his emotions. He liked to avoid them as much as possible, especially ones including caring for someone. He was Draco bloody Malfoy, hard-ass Slytherin with a bad boy reputation who didn't give a shit about anyone except his family. That was almost the case even today, except when it was just him and Hermione. She had changed him, for the better really, and he secretly adored her and her bushy man of brown curls for it.

The curtains of his four poster were suddenly yanked open and a pillow hit in hard in the face. Draco reacted quickly, pulling the pillow from his face and getting ready to throw it back at his attacker. He made eye contact with his dorm mate and glared, chucking the pillow back at him. "What the hell Nott! I didn't order a wakeup call!"

"You're damn alarms been going off for the past five minutes you git! Come back to the dungeons before you wake up the whole castle." He retorted.

Draco rolled his eyes as Nott disappeared from sight. He pulled back the curtains of his bed and approached his dresser, ignoring Zabini who was watching him closely. "You look tired Malfoy." Zabini said, but Draco continued to ignore him. "Want to tell us why you didn't come back until about three in the morning?"

Draco paused from opening his dresser for a second, turning to look at Nott. Nott turned to look at Draco as well, but then turned back to getting his robes out. He wasn't foolish like Zabini, he knew when to mind his own business. "Not that it's any of your business, Zabini, but I headed off to the kitchens." Draco said, fishing through his robes.

"For four hours?" Draco could feel Zabini smirking. "Come on, Malfoy. Who's the girl you're fucking late every night?"

Draco could feel his blood boiling at Zabini's words, which confused him slightly. That was what they were doing, right? Him and Hermione were fucking, nothing more or less…. Hoping to avoid talking to Blaise anymore, he turned to approach the bathroom, but just as he did, the door shut, the room now occupied by Nott. "Nott!" Draco yelled, banging on the door. "I shower first, remember!"

"You shower when your damn alarm doesn't wake me up!" Nott snapped, and Draco could hear the shower start up.

"Bloody wanker." He said under his breath, turning away from the door. He made eye contact with Zabini, but quickly looked away, walking towards his closet to grab an extra towel. He would find another place to shower. He couldn't stand here with Zabini smirking at him.

"That's probably a good idea." Blaise said suddenly. "Nott usually takes long shower. You should probably get the stench of the sex you had last night off you as soon as possible."

Draco slammed his closet door shut and tucked all his clothes under his arm before heading towards the door. "Fuck off Zabini." Draco snapped before storming from the room.

Zabini was about as nosey and cunning as any other Slytherin. He knew how to get what he wanted, and would do anything in his power to make sure it remained to his liking. It was only a matter of time before Zabini found out he was fucking Hermione, and that worried him. But that wasn't the only thing on his mind that was bugging him. Him and Hermione had been fucking for months now, but he wasn't so sure if it was that anymore. Were they fucking, screwing for fun, having sex, or even… making love.

He didn't know which, and that bugged him because he didn't know when he even started to consider her anything other than someone to fuck around with.

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_review please_ :)


	4. Blackmail Begins

Hello to everyone!  
It's been close to about six months since I have updated ANY of my stories, but I guess you could say life has been pretty nice for me lately. Between trying to put together an original story, making a return trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, ghost hunting, and falling in love for the first time, I've been pretty busy. However, seeing as how many people seem to like this story and how many of you have reviewed, there was no way I couldn't make an attempt to continue it. So, here I am! Enjoy :]

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.:Four:.

Hermione's brown hair cascaded farther to the right as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand, head leaning slightly as she stared at the back of Draco's head.

She knew she had fallen for him. She had never known before what it felt like to have a person smile at you when your eyes lock and have your stomach automatically do flip[s, to have someone kiss you and the world around you suddenly disappear because the only two people who matter are the both of you, or even the dizziness that came once the kiss was released, almost like you were brought back to a world spinning much faster then the time you were just frozen in. She had never felt the goose bumps that made its way over her body in a wave as he nibbled on her earlobe in just the right place.

But most importantly, she had never felt the worry. Not a normal worry, like a worry of whether or not you'll wake up to your alarm the next morning. This worry was one that made her heart ache and kept her mind racing. It was when she started to wonder, to worry, if he was falling for her too, or if she would just end up with a broken heart in the end. Because you can't wonder if someone has the same feelings for you as you have for them without a small part of you falling hard.

For Hermione, however, it wasn't a small part of her, it was all of her. Hermione had fallen head over heels for Draco. She just wished she knew when exactly he had tripped her into a dream world she hadn't discovered until now and would soon never want to leave.

Hermione was so busy staring at the back of Draco's head that she hadn't even noticed the jealous eyes glaring at her from across the room.

.::.

Hermione sighed as she exited the Transfiguration classroom and immediately turned down the nearest hallway to head for the Gryffindor common room. The hallway was empty like usual, and Hermione didn't happen to notice the Slytherin turn down the hall directly after her, following her closely. "Hey, Granger." Hermione spun around quickly to see who was calling her, and was immediately shoved against the wall. Hermione's head slammed into the grey stone, her bag falling off her shoulder and everything falling out of it. Books laid spread across the floor and ink spilled out, flowing into the cracks on the floor.

Hermione made a move to push herself off the wall, but soon found a wand against her throat and Pansy Parkinson glaring at her. "Parkinson." Hermione spat, making a move to grab her wand out of her back pocket.

"Don't bother, Granger." Parkison spat back, noticing Hermione making an attempt at retrieving her wand. "Just here to give you a… verbal warning. Must say that was very predictable though. You Gryffindors are all the same."

"What are you talking about? Verbal warning?" Hermione snapped.

"I don't know what has gotten into that abnormally large brain of yours, but you better keep your eyes off my man." Parkinson said with a smirk.

Hermione laughed, she couldn't help it. "What are you talking about Parkinson?"

"Don't act like you weren't staring at Draco during Transfiguration." Pansy's smirk was now gone. "He's not interested in mudbloods like you. Never in a million years would he sully himself with the likes of you." Pansy spat, her eyes looking up and down at Hermione. "Keep your eyes, and especially your hands off Draco, or else I'll make sure I'm not the only one who finds out about this. And trust me, you don't want things like this spread around Hogwarts…." With one more push, Pansy sent Hermione slamming back into the wall, successfully banging her head again, before walking down the hall.

Hermione reached up to put her hand on the bump of her head. She breathed heavily as she blinked back tears that were starting to come to her eyes from more than just the pain in her head. It would be a lie to say that Pansy's threat hadn't bothered her. It meant more than just the usual Slytherin threat. She could handle those like she had since she was in her first year. This one, however, was different. Pansy had seen her eyeing up Draco when she believed that nobody else was watching her, and she knew that her threat was true. There were plenty of Slytherins who would go to the extreme to find out why Hermione Granger, Harry Potters best friend and muggleborn, had been looking at Draco Malfoy in the way she had.

Tears now falling from Hermione's eyes, she remembered her bag on the ground, and with her hands shaking, she started to pick up all her belongings. Trying to compose herself, she wiped the tears from her eyes and used her wand to clean up the ink on the floor, the idea of Pansy now having small knowledge of her and Draco scaring her more than anything else.

.::.

Draco's stomach growled in protest of him missing dinner as he trudged up the stairs the led to the Owlery. The sun had just started to set over the trees of the forbidden forest, turning the sky into a dark blue and making it hard for Draco to see the uneven stairs he was climbing. Lumos was easy enough to use, but not when you're trying to avoid being seen, which he guessed him owl was trying to do as well as himself. The damn bird had been gone since this morning, never returning to Draco's room. He sometimes wondered if him being so spoiled and rotten had rubbed off on his pet as well. When he finally made it to the top of the Owlery, he pulled out his wand to better see the owls around him. "Lumos." He said under his breath, watching as the light suddenly appeared on the tip of his black wand. He raised it high into the air and quickly spotted his owl, sitting within eye level and staring at him, eyes full of anger. "There you are, you stupid bugger." Draco said, approaching him. He quickly put out his wand with a quick 'nox', then stuffed it into his back pocket before reaching inside of his coat and pulling out the note, his whole reason for coming here tonight.

He sighed as he read his own handwriting on the front, forming the letters that made up Hermione's name. He bit his lip nervously. He didn't want to send it to her for a couple reasons. One, it would scare the hell out of her to know that he had something important enough to say that it needed to be sent in a letter, and two, he really didn't want to have to break the news to her about Zabini. He had promised her that everything would be okay, that nobody would find out. But he was stupid for thinking that. He should have known, just like Hermione had, that they would eventually be discovered.

Sighing one more time, he reached up to start tying the letter to his owls leg when it suddenly came flying out of his hand. Draco turned around to face a smirking Blaise, wand in one hand and Draco's letting in the other. "Zabini, what the-"

Draco stopped in horror to watch as Blaise started to tear it open. In the horror and pure shock of the moment, Draco's wand lay completely forgotten in his back pocket. "Letter to your mummy, Malfoy?" Blaise taunted.

"Give me back my letter." Draco demanded, approached Blaise quickly. "It doesn't concern you."

But it was too late. Blaise had it opened and was reading it. Draco could feel his whole world about to crash before him. "Mione," Blaise read out loud, and Draco could do nothing but watch. "We need to talk. I think Zabini knows. Meet me at the room of requirement at two a.m. tonight." Blaise looked up at Draco with a smirk on his face. "So…, Mione, huh?" He asked. "Is that the nickname you have for the Gryffindor mudblood you've been fucking?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Draco said slowly. It was as good as a confession.

Blaise chuckled again. "I can't believe _you_, Draco Malfoy, pureblood of the decade, have been fucking around with Potters little mudblood sidekick."

Draco glared at him. "Don't call her that." He said, teeth clenched.

"What would your mum think?" Blaise taunted. "Or your father? What would he do if he knew his son, the only Malfoy heir, was tainting the family blood by screwing around with his least favorite mudblood."

Draco, now remembering about his wand in his back pocket due to the anger he felt towards Zabini, pulled it out and took a couple steps towards his fellow Slytherin. "Shut it, Zabini!" He yelled. "You don't know shit!"

"Oh, but according to you," He waved Draco's letter in the air. "I do." Draco licked his lips nervously as Blaise continued to smirk. "Admit it Malfoy."

"There's nothing to admit."

"Admit it or else I take this letter and send it directly to the Dark Lord." Blaise's smirk fell. He wasn't playing around anymore. "Your family _might_ be able to forgive you, but never the Dark Lord. You'll have to stand by and watched as he tortures your family, murders the parents of the filthy mudblood you've grown feelings for, and then… you can watch her die." Blaise paused. "They'll kill her Malfoy, and it'll be all your fault."

They glared back at each other, but flashes of Hermione screaming in pain, yelling for him to save her, tears running down her cheeks as she stared at him before a flash of green light that would take all the lift left in her brown eyes. Draco's heart banged in his chest. He sighed before lowering his wand. He couldn't let that happen to Hermione. "What do you want?"

Blaise's smirk was back. "I already told you."

Draco shrugged his shoulders, raising his arms in the air slightly. "Fine. It's true. I'm sleeping with Hermione."

Blaise laughed. "Well, well, well, we do have a dilemma here, don't we?" Draco stared at him, nervously biting his lower lip. "I mean, I can't not tell the Dark Lord something like this… unless…-."

"Unless what?" Draco pressed.

"There was something in it for me." Draco stared at him knowingly. Of course Blaise wanted something. "But since you're obviously not interested...-"

"Stop fucking around, Zabini." Draco snapped. "What do you want?"

Blaise chuckled. "I want ten galleons a week, and your position on the Slytherin Quidditch team."

"You're crazy. Where am I supposed to get ten galleons a week at?" Blaise didn't respond. "Make it seven."

Blaise laughed, shaking his head. "You're in no position to bargain, Malfoy. Ten galleons a week and your resignation of Slytherin Seeker by tomorrow's game, or else I tell the Dark Lord."

Draco stared at him. Did he really have a choice?

.::.

Hermione walked inside the room of requirement, already knowing that Draco would be here. She closed the door behind her and glanced around the room, spotting Draco sitting on a couch with his back to her, his eyes focused on an unlit fireplace. She walked towards the couch and stopped when she was standing next to it, her eyes on Draco, arms crossed against her chest.

"Don't give me that look, Hermione." Draco said, his eyes not moving, not acknowledging her what so ever.

"I went to the quidditch game, looking like an idiot for wanting to watch a Ravenclaw and Slytherin game, and was shocked to see Zabini playing seeker instead of you." When Draco said nothing, Hermione continued. "Naturally, I assumed you were injured, so I ran to the hospital wing, but you weren't there either."

"Obviously." Draco snapped, still not looking at her.

"Hey!" Hermione said defensively. "Don't snap at me." She said, defending herself.

Draco finally looked up at her and his eyes softened. It wasn't right to take his anger out on her. She was the only one who could help him, the only one who _would_ help him, his only friend. "I'm sorry." He said under his breath. Hermione sighed, moving to sit next to him.

"What happened?"

"He blackmailed me." Hermione gave him a questioning look and Draco turned his attention back to the fire. "Either I pay him ten galleons a week and give up my seeker position… or… he tells the Dark Lord about the two of us." Hermione gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. "I had no choice."

"But… how does he know?" Hermione asked franticly. "We were so careful."

"He knew I'd been sneaking out almost every night. It only took him intercepting a letter I wrote to you for him to put two and two together. Plus I think Pansy suspected something as well. I'm sure she mentioned it to Zabini, the whore."

Hermione was silent, not sure what say. Her eyes constantly blinked as they looked past Draco to the wall behind him. Draco could tell she was racking the giant brain of hers for answers, and he could tell by the look on her face that she was scared.

"Hermione." Draco said quietly. "Hermione, look at me." Her eyes slowly moved to Draco's and Draco gulped when he saw the fear in them. "We're going to be okay."

"I knew this would happen." Hermione's head fell. "I wanted to stop a _long_ time ago."

"I know you did."

"But you told me everything would be okay." She was getting progressively louder.

"Everything _will_ be okay."

"How do you know? How do you know Zabini won't run off to Voldemort?" She yelled, now on her feet.

Draco stood as well, making an attempt to calm her down. "Because I'm giving him what he wants."

"And what happens when he has had his fill of what he's asking you for? What happens when he decides he would rather see the both of us dead?" Hermione now had tears rolling down her eyes.

"Hermione… I know you're scared." Draco said, approaching her and whipping the tears from her cheeks. "But I'm not going to let anything happen to you… ever."

"Pansy knew Draco. She threatened me." Hermione said, practically ignoring Draco's comment.

"She what?" Draco looked shocked and angry at this new information. "How did she-"

"She caught me staring at you during Transfiguration a couple days ago. She shoved me into a wall and said that if she ever caught me staring at you again she would be forced to tell someone." Draco lowered his eyes to the ground, running a hand through his hair. "What if she already did?" Hermione was panicking again. "What if she went to Zabini and that's what gave him what he needed to blackmail you?" Draco said nothing, racking his brain for a plan. "What if they go to Voldemort?"

"They won't." Draco said confidently, looking Hermione in the eyes again.

"How can you possibly know something like that?"Hermione asked. "How can you be so confident?"

"Because I know Zabini." Draco answered right away. "The seeker position and ten galleons will keep him satisfied for at least a few weeks. That'll give us enough time to establish a plan."

"That's not good enough Draco." Hermione said, slightly calmer. "A few weeks doesn't help this situation."

"I know." Draco forced a smile at her, giving her a kiss on the lips before wrapping his arms around her, relieved when Hermione leaned into the hug. "But it's all we have for now."

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Review please :]


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